Do any of you have weird habits when playing with a metronome or drummer?

I know a bassist who goes into a seizure-like shake and can't keep time without doing it.

I recently noticed that I grind my teeth.

Do any of you have any weird habits when playing with a beat?

This probably goes under Technique (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=21) or General Instruction (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=22) rather than Basses.

Mike

Move the thread if need be, but this is a good thread!

I too clench my jaw when keeping time? Probably not good for our teeth. I also tend to keep time with my right heel, as opposed to tapping my toe... which would make my leg (and bass) move much less.

I stomp my foot like a horse doing long division.

About practicing w/ a metronome; at times, I think about a Fellini movie where there is a recurring dreamlike flashback to several people who are walking down a road and all you hear is the click-click-click of their heels on the pavement. That thought blows my concentration.

I have been known to stop breathing, or go to a very shallow - long space between breaths, when I am concentrating on the groove (bass / drums clicking and sticking with the click track).

That seems weird to me.

I stomp my foot like a horse doing long division.

rofl! I do that - then I get cramp in my leg :-)

I think the first thing you have to do is forget about trying to keep time ;)

I tend to breath the rythm I'm playing :D

I tend to breath the rythm I'm playing :D


Same here. For me it comes from years of playing brass. I can't seem to break myself of the habit. I also move my jaw into the position I'd use for playing a passage on trumpet... Without the resistance of a mouthpiece against my teeth I just end up screwing up my face and making my jaw horribly sore. It's best if I mutter lyrics while playing unless I'm actually singing while playing.

I tap my foot in quarter notes. After 27 yrs of playing drums, its very natural to me.

When I'm really concentrated, I Drool ( yehehe :)) and I forget to breath

Used to be that whenever I sat down to play, even without a metronome (this was when I was just starting), I would suddenly get very hot and stuffy. Because I wasn't breathing.